Custom Engine Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot

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Agents in BizChat has been available for some time already, but now there is an upcoming update to Agents. The introduction of “ custom engine agents ” in Microsoft 365 Copilot! These specialized agents can be built on any large language model (LLM), toolchain, or orchestration tool, tailored specifically for your domain or tenant workflows. Initially supported in Microsoft Teams, this feature will soon be available in Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat ( BizChat ).   The introduction of Custom engine agents enables your organization to create customized experiences using your own AI systems and orchestrators. You can design unique prompts, connect to any LLM, and integrate these custom agents with Microsoft 365 Copilot. After the rollout, users will be able to access these agents, provided they are enabled and deployed in the Microsoft 365 admin center under the Copilot tab.   You can read more about the feature on this page . Eligible users can create agents using Micros...

Lync 2013 and Skype Video calling

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For true fans of true universal communications, Christmas came early this year!
Microsoft announced the availability of Lync to Skype video calling.
And this is what it is all about, the availability of this icon, the video call button:


And what comes next? A nice video (no one in the other room :P )


In this screenshot I am on a Skype client, and the other side is on a Lync 2013 klient.

This is one of the really anticipated updates, and it gives "universal communications" a real feel. With Lync to Skype federation enabled, your Lync 2013 users can now potentially reach millions of users, and have high quality conversations.

Enough promo, what does it take to make it work? Surprisingly little. If you already have the Skype IM/P-Audio federation set up, you are good to go. All it takes are up to date clients (Skype 7.0.0.100 and October Lync client CU).
If you haven't enabled Lync to Skype Federation, follow the simple steps outlined in this guide.

A note to end users: It only works on Skype for Windows desktop at the moment (no mobile devices just yet). And I discovered you have to get the latest version from this site to make it work (an update check within my original Skype client did not upgrade to this version, but it will soon, probably).

It will work on Lync 2013 Desktop client and iOS devices.

Happy video calling!